HEART Kids Make Art to Show Danger of Pollution

A number of years ago images taken by photographer Chris Jordan showing the plight of the albatross went viral online. Inspired by those heartbreaking photographs of the massive birds filled with plastic, HEART instructors Kim Korona and Chris Parrucci came up with a powerful lesson to teach kids about the true impact of pollution.

As part of the Living Wild Series in our after-school program at Animal Haven, kids took a hard look at plastic, how we use it and where it ends up once we dispose of it. They learned that animals like the albatross, seagull, rainbow fish, and sea turtle mistake plastic bags, bottle caps and other scraps of trash for food, injuring them or even causing them to die. The students understood that their actions matter and that by taking steps to reduce, reuse and recycle they can help save these animals and keep our planet clean.

To educate others, the students did their own version of Chris Jordan’s work by making portraits of animals out of plastic trash.

Instructor Kim Korona said about the project, “The Living Wild Service Project was a huge success. Our young participants, only 5 – 8 yrs. old created beautiful works of art to demonstrate how bottle caps and other small pieces of waste can cause harm to wildlife when they ingest it. The kids worked well in groups to create their art and they wrote the most thoughtful messages around their animals, asking people to ‘please not litter’ and to ‘save a life.’ We were so proud of them!”